1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to Compact Disk (CD) devices and more specifically relates to CD drives for use in both computer-related and independent operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
While CD drives have been a popular part of computers for years, the technology has not kept up with the proliferation of new formats for audio files. MP3 files of audio such as song or voice tracks have grown in popularity. However, MP3 and other protocols for encoding music or other audio information require processing beyond what the typical CD drive can perform. Most CD drives can process only CD-DA format audio information independently, and rely on a general purpose processor in a computer to process other formats. At the same time, these popular formats are desirable to consumers, both due to availability of audio tracks in these formats, and increased storage density.